New Chief Takes the Helm of NYPD as Bratton Leaves

The New York Police Department waved goodbye to Commissioner William Bratton for the second time on Friday as he leaves to take a job as a private security executive. He was replaced by Chief of Department James O’Neill, who is charged by Mayor Bill de Blasio to introduce an innovative “community policing” method, in which beat cops interact personally with residents, including by giving out their personal cellphone numbers and email addresses.

Hundreds of officers and commanders in dress-blue uniforms applauded and saluted Bratton as he left police headquarters. Bagpipes serenaded the 68-year-old commissioner, who also led the police departments in Boston and Los Angeles. His landmark “broken windows” theory has brought down serious crimes by cracking down on smaller offenses. It is credited with a dramatic crime drop in the 1990s, during his first stint as NYPD commissioner. Read more at the Daily Mail.